Nguyen Thi Tam wins former world boxing champion
Nazym was the world champion in 2014 and 2016 at 48-50. In the last two years, the Kazakh boxer won the Asian Cup 2021 in the 50-52kg category, and ranked third in Asia 2022 in the 48-50 kg category. However, Nguyen Thi Tam still had an almost perfect match against this seasoned opponent.
Vietnamese boxers take advantage of their height and long arm span to not let their opponents close. Tam's punches, especially the backhand hook, are highly effective in this match. After three rounds, the boxer born in 1994 received a higher total score from all five referees, including four absolute points of 30.
An impressive victory helped Nguyen Thi Tam enter the 1/8 round against Modukanele Bokamoso on the afternoon of March 21. The Botswana boxer born in 1996 also had an impressive victory over Nepalese boxer Asmita Duwal in the round of 16.
Nguyen Thi Tam is the number one hope of Vietnamese women's boxing and aims to win a medal at WWBC 2023. Before that, Thai Binh boxer just won the Asian championship in the 50-52kg category in 2017, the 48th-class. 50kg in 2022, won a bronze medal at ASIAD 2018, two gold medals at SEA Games 30 and 31 in the same 50-52kg category.
WWBC 2023 is organized by the International Boxing Federation (IBA) in New Delhi, India from March 15 to 26 with a total prize fund of 2.4 million USD (about 56.8 billion VND). The tournament brings together boxers from 65 countries and regions around the world to compete at the K.D.Jadhav gymnasium.
Vietnam has nine boxers and six of them failed in the round. Nguyen Thi Hoi lost to Julia Chumgalakova (Russia) 0-5 round 1/16 in the 45-48kg category. Vo Thi Kim Anh lost to Munguntsetseg Jargal (Mongolia) 1-2 in the round of 16 in the 52-54kg category. Ha Thi Linh lost to Thananya Somnuek (Thailand) 1-4 in the round of 16 in the 60-63kg class. Luu Diem Quynh lost to Ruzmetova Sokhiba (Uzbekistan) 0-5 in the round of 16 in the 70-75kg class. Nguyen Thi Huong lost to Wang Lina (China) 0-5 in the 1/8 round of 75-81kg. Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoai lost to Zheng Lu (China) 0-5 in the 1/8 round of the 81kg upper class.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tran dramatically beat Bulgarian boxer Poptoleva Venelia 3-2 in the round of 16 in the 50-52kg category. She will face French boxer Romane Moulai in the 1/8 round this afternoon, March 20.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Hao defeated South African rival Mnguni Sbusisiwe 5-1 in the round of 16 in the 54-57kg class. In round 1/18 on the afternoon of March 21, she will have to face a very strong Italian boxer, Testa Irma.
